In May 2011, Foxygen‘s Sam France and Jonathan Rado nervously handed off a CD-R of their homemade mini-opusTake the Kids Off Broadway to producer/multi-instrumentalist Richard Swift after his performance in a Lower East Side club. The duo, who had just mixed and burned the disc that very night, had been devotees of Swift’s outsider-pop oeuvre since high school, when they first began recording their own pubescent forays into oddball rock n’ roll (at least a dozen records were finished before they graduated high school). Read more...

In anticipation of its official release, Gus + Scout are streaming their self-titled debut EP today (see below). Gus Wenner, 22 and Scout Willis, 21, recorded it at The Clubhouse in Rhinebeck, NY with producer Charlie Klarsfeld.

After growing up on the same street in Hailey, Idaho the Gus + Scout lost touch only to be reunited at Brown University. Once together again, the two unearthed their lost connection through music and songwriting. Ultimately, they created Gus + Scout EP, a five song collection of emotional, country-inflected folk rock tunes. Read more...

Ultraísta, the multimedia trio comprised of vocalist/artist Laura Bettinson and multi-instrumentalist/producers Nigel Godrich (Radiohead, Beck, Paul McCartney) and Joey Waronker (everybody else), will see the U.S. release of its self-titled debut album October 2 on Temporary Residence.

Founded in London in 2011 on a mutual love of Afrobeat, electronic and dance music, visual art, and tequila, Ultraísta has created 10 tracks of exquisitely crafted electronic kraut-pop for this phenomenal first outing. Read more...

They say that Robert Johnson went down to the crossroads and sold his soul to the devil. If he did, then quite possibly he has been reincarnated as a white man from New Zealand. If you think that this sounds like the ravings of a madman, wait just one moment and let me introduce you to Willy Moon. Read more...

One of France’s most acclaimed young artists and composers, Emilie Simon, is set to release her exquisite new album, Franky Knight, in the U.S. in August 2012.

With acclaim that includes three wins at France’s prestigious “Victoires de la Musique” (French equivalent to the GRAMMY Awards) and nominations for the Prix Constantin and Cesars (French equivalent to the U.S Academy Awards), Emilie Simon has blazed a path in her native France as a forward thinking composer, singer/songwriter and dynamic electro-pop musician as well as one of the country’s best selling female recording artists. Read more...

Lumerians are garage scholars of the weird. The Oakland-based quintet could be named for Lemuria, the long-lost sunken continent ruled by primitive mystics. But note the spelling: Lumerians, not Lemurians. Sure Lumerians dig lemurs plenty, but they love lumiere—especially son et lumiere, the fusion of sound and light that is one of the hallmarks of deep trance and media. Lumerians play droning dance music for the soul you forgot you had – the noise of the billions of switches in your brain shutting off and on in perfect harmony. Last year Knitting Factory Records released their debut full length Transmalinnia, an immersive odyssey beyond the senses five. Read more...

Welcome to another edition of Project Rhythm Seed’s Rhythm Seed Artist Spotlight.Today we are happy to bring some attention to a new band calledSunless ‘97 The band returns with their second release, this time on brilliantly diverse UK label Not Even. The two tracks further display the honest eclecticism found at the heart of the three-piece band’s music. Sunless ’97 is from London, England and started out as a solo project of leader Edward Leeson. Read more...

Brooklyn quartet Black Taxihas been generating quite the buzz lately in the indie-rock world. From their seven performances at this year’s SXSW to the release of their critically acclaimed second album, We Don’t Know Any Better in January, it seems that the band is turning heads and garnering fans everywhere they go. Following up on these successes, the band is preparing to begin a series of spring tour dates that will see them traveling down the East Coast, along with appearances at several festivals. Additionally, the band has released a brand-new remix of their song “Friend”, off their latest album, by esteemed NYC producer Fake Money; it is available as a free download via their Facebook page. Read more...

Memoryhouse formed some five years ago in the depths of southern Ontario, Canada, in a mid-size town called Guelph. It started as a collaborative project meant to serve as an artistic outlet for composer Evan Abeele and photographer Denise Nouvion. Evan, a dedicated student of classical music and an avid follower of pop-music, intended Memoryhouse to be a multimedia art project, pairing his instrumental compositions with Denise’s photographs and short films. Read more...

Syco/Columbia Records will be releasing the first album from British sensation Rebecca Ferguson, Heaven, on May 29, 2012. Heaven debuted at #3 on the UK album chart with the biggest first week album sales for a debut UK female artist in 2011 and is quickly approaching over 500,000 in sales. The first single from the album, “Nothing’s Real But Love,” hit the top 10 on the British charts in its first week of release and is currently in rotation at various formats in the US including Urban AC, AAA and Public Radio. Read more...

England in 1819 is the collaborative project of brothers Andrew and Dan Callaway and their father Liam. Their grandfather, William Callaway, was a traveling musician throughout Georgia during the golden era of the post-war 1940s and 50s. His only son, Liam, followed in his footsteps, honing his musical talents amidst the burgeoning New Wave Athens scene in the late 70s, before moving the family to England while teaching Air Force bands. Read more...

Illustrious and riveting, Rachael Sage is a born performer. With mesmerizing vocals, a natural talent for songwriting and flair in droves, it’s no surprise that the gorgeous songstress has garnered attention internationally. Haunted By You, set to hit via Rachael’s own MPress Records on May 8th, is a song cycle about passion and features guest vocalists Dar Williams, Katie Costello and actor/director Joshua Leonard (“Blair Witch Project”, “Humpday“). The NYC-based artist and producer explains, “I fell recklessly in and out of love multiple times while writing this record. I broke a couple hearts…and I also had my heart broken pretty badly.” Haunted By You is a record that is immediately welcoming, pulling you in from the very first melodies and swirling effortlessly and seductively through your ears and into your heart on the very first listen. Read more...

Known internationally as a curator amongst the world’s most cutting edge DJs, producers, and musical movements Wesley Pentz, better known as Diplo, has experienced a variety of successes. The last few years have been spent running through the club circuit and having chart-topping hits with refreshing irreverence. Born in Tupelo, Mississippi, in 1978, Pentz spent most his childhood in Florida working in his father’s bait shop and being turned onto music through then-new mediums like MTV. Drifting North through the state came Miami Bass, and from the West came the sounds of Southern Hip-Hop artists. The musical influence and variety coalesced, and at 18, Pentz moved to Philadelphia for college at Temple University to study Film and Music. While a student he took a job in the South Philadephia community as a social worker and created the influential Hollertronix club night, which was the beginning of his fledgling career as Diplo. Read more...

Tribes is a well needed return to straight up rock & roll; melodic guitar riffs, DIY mentality and loud anthemic tunes. No synths or programming, just an ambitious young band from the UK with great songs and a love for the rock ‘n’ roll lifestyle. They’ve been building a great buzz in the UK, supporting bands like The Pixies, Mystery Jets, The Kooks and Kaiser Chiefs and were just confirmed for the NME Awards 2012 tour in February with Two Door Cinema Club and Metronomy. Read more...

We Are Animal hail from Northwest Wales, in an area below Mount Snowdon called Snowdonia. Basking in majestic mountain scenery, there are many small, picturesque villages steeped in myth, magic and legend. Read more...

Greetings once again, and welcome to another edition of Project Rhythm Seed’s Free Music Friday. We are happy to announce that at midnight last night we launched the first ever Rhythm Seed Store, which is chock full of great products for a vibrant musical lifestyle. Included are our album and music download picks, book and kindle picks, movie picks, awesome artistic attire, select band merchandise, cool electronics and some bad ass axes. Check it out when you have some time. Shopping and buying items through the Rhythm Seed Store is a great way to support Project Rhythm Seed, so that we can keep bringing you lots of music news, reviews and interviews. Read more...

The Minneapolis rapper known as Dessa doesn’t have a typical hip-hop profile, but her talent more than compensates. Maggie Wander, 28, graduated from the University of Minnesota at 20, and then worked as a medical writer. She co-founded an a cappella group called the Boy Sopranos. She’s an outspoken fan of Jeff Buckley and the kind of arty alt-rockers he inspired. And, under the name Dessa, Wander just released a terrific hip-hop album called A Badly Broken Code. Read more...

A band journeying from song to song and from strength to resplendent strength, Django Django display a verdant and very welcome continuity regarding their colorific approach to musical composition, a form of songwriting which is wholly Djangorous, highly distinctive and easily vocalizes their kaleidoscopic sensibilities and multi-genred ingenuity. Read more...

Hello everyone and welcome to another edition of Project Rhythm Seed’s Free Music Friday. This week seems like it just flew by. On Monday we brought you news on Ryan Adams’ forthcoming release Ashes & Fire. On Tuesday it was all about our pals Switchfoot and the release of their new album Vice Verses. On Wednesday we presented another installment of Rhythm Seed Artist Spotlight, this time highlighting one of our favorite bands of 2011, Little Dragon. On Thursday it was Grammy award winning Chris Cornell’s upcoming release of his live album entitled Songbook. Read more...